Keep Flyin'
by djwatson
Summary: Serenity picks up another stray and all the adventure and trouble ensues.
1. That go shi planet

Mal looked around at the empty planet of Dionysus, a few people scurried along in their own little worlds and that was it. No one seemed bothered by the fact an unauthorised boat had just landed a little roughly in the middle of nowhere with a part of it still smoking. He shrugged as he stepped off his boat and started to take a walk around. He knew Kaylee could fix it, so he decided to leave her to it and he would see if maybe he could get a few paying customers onto his boat. The place was empty, nothing but a bar, a few stalls and one person sitting on the ground, legs crossed and arms tied behind their back. He approached the figure, an eyebrow cocked.

It was a woman, no older than thirty, bright red hair covered her face until she looked up at him. She had big green eyes that were lined with black charcoal, she had slightly plump lips that were blood red, with a little trickle of blood falling from one side. She also had a large kink in her nose which also had a trickle of blood along with a mass of blood underneath it. She looked up at Mal with one eye shut and let a chuckle escape her lips.

"If you wanna join in the poundin', you might wanna ask in there," she tipped her head over to the bar, her voice a southern drawl.

"Oh, I don't take much to beatin' women tied up in deserts…"

"Well, that's an up side for me. Any chance you could take pity and untie me?" she asked with a small smirk.

"I dare say I could try if no one is watchin'. But first maybe I should find out what you did to find yourself in this situation."

"Oh, the same old fight for me. How much the Alliance sucks and that they should fly out of my life. Shame I ended up on the only gorram planet that is full of extremists…"

"So the brown coat isn't just a fashion statement?"

"Course not, Independent through and through. And I'm assuming that mighty fine brown coat of yours is gonna match mine?"

"Why yes it does."

It seemed that there didn't need to be much more talking to happen. Mal had decided that he would free the poor woman not only of her binds, but also of this planet that she really didn't belong on. He looked to the bar and noted that no one was here any more, most people had gone into whatever building they wanted to. He carefully helped the woman up to her feet, smiling lightly at her as he continued to look around them. Suddenly there was a shout from the direction of the small bar.

"Aw, _go shi_," she muttered under her breath.

"Here son, where you takin' the girl?"

"I thought she was just up for grabs as there ain't no one watchin' over her."

"She don't belong to no one, but we'd prefer it if she stayed put. See this little missy likes causin' trouble and she needs to be taught not to."

"What if we take her off your hands? Surely that would be a load of your mind."

"Why do y'all want this girl so bad?"

"On a ship fulla men, a girl would be a nice addition."

"Nothing to do with your coats matchin'?"

"Not at all, colour don't mean a thing to me."

"I s'pose you can have her, but for a price…"

"And what price would that be?"

"Well, you got a mighty fine fancy ship there, I'm guessing it's got some mighty fine cargo."

"You would have guessed right there."

"Then what you got on the menu?"

"We recently salvaged some protein bars, and we've got a small bullion we could possibly exchange with ya,"

"Protein bars you say? I guess we could take a box of them in exchange for this waste of air."

"Let me just confirm with my crew and then we can make the sale."

Mal looked at her and gave her a curt not as he turned and went back towards Serenity. He stepped on the ship and wondered around for a few moments, deciding where would be best to start looking for the rest of the crew. He knew this was probably crazy but then most of his plans usually were crazy. He made his way to the cockpit to find Zoë in the lap of Wash, giggling at each other; he'd definitely just walked in at an awkward time. The two looked around to see him standing there with a hand on his hip. They quickly straightened up and sheepishly smiled at him.

"We got ourselves a situation."

"And by we do we mean you, sir?" Zoë looked at him seriously.

"Well… yes, but… okay, there's an old Rebel fighter out there and she's got herself in a bit of trouble, I only see it right that we help out a fellow Browncoat."

"And how do you know she's actually a Browncoat?" Wash asked with a little concern.

"I just got a feeling."

"So, what do we have to do to help her out, cap'n?" Zoë cocked an eyebrow.

"They wanna trade a box of protein bars for her."

"Seems reasonable, you gonna tell them they're marked?"

"Oh hell no, which means we're gonna have to let them stew while Kaylee fixes our problem. Speakin' of which, how long will she be?"

"Not too sure, I think you might have to ask her yourself," Wash shrugged.

Mal nodded and went on his travels around the ship again. He knew that Book would have no troubles with a new person aboard, he was the one that seemed most relaxed about most of the changes, despite that this wasn't his type of life. The Tams wouldn't complain because, well, let's face it, they were in no position to complain. Jayne might have been another story, but then again, it was a woman so he would probably be quite easy to convince. Kaylee would probably be thankful for the added female company. Although if this girl joined them it would be a one to one ratio, something Mal never thought was possible. Not that he was complaining, this made up the finest crew he'd ever seen.

He finally got into the engine room and smiled as he saw Kaylee furiously using a wrench on something near the engine. She looked up at him almost as soon as he walked in and pushed a piece of hair out of her face with the back of her hand, still managing to cover her forehead with grease. She beamed him a smile and waited for him to ask his question.

"So how much longer 'til we're in the air again?"

"I'd say I can have her up and running in a few, the smoke was just a show, wasn't it girl? Once I've got this tightened up, we'll be off."

"I'll hold you to that."

He quickly turned and made his way to the loading bay, right where all the lovely loot was stored away. He looked over to see Jayne sitting at his weights, getting ready to start a set. Mal looked away, acting as if he never saw him, walking around to find the box with the protein bars inside. They had commandeered them a couple of weeks ago, illegally, from a wreckage out in the deep dark no where, so they were pretty safe, it was only when they saw the Alliance mark once again that they realised they couldn't shift them really, but then they would be handy to snack on when there was nothing left. They did pick up a few other extras on that wreck that weren't marked and would fetch a pretty tidy amount, but that was for another day.

"Hungry already?"

"No, just looking to trade them off," Mal said nonchalantly as he opened the crate.

"Trade them off with who? Who's crazy enough to trade off Alliance goods?"

"Some nut jobs getting rid of some girl trouble. And they don't know they're Alliance, so keep your mouth shut."

"My mouth? Why my mouth? And girl trouble? We sure we wanna take that on board? Last girl trouble we got ourselves was a nut job who liked cuttin' people."

"She's only girl trouble for them because she's a Rebel. And you're coming with me on this trade, they think there aren't no women on this fine boat, so we gotta give them that impression," he said, finally looking up at him.

"Another rescue mission for the great Cap'n Mal."

"Just shut up and get ready," Mal rolled his eyes and scooped up a bunch of bars in his hands. "You coming?"

Jayne slipped his jacket over his t-shirt and followed Mal out of the ship. He quickened his pace to catch up with him and then walked along side him as normal. The two of them strode out towards the two figures, a woman bound and a sneering man. He looked at both of them and then back to Mal, this was crazy. Then again, Mal was crazy. They stopped a few yards in front of the two people and were ready to trade.

"You got yourself a deal," Mal announced.

"Alrighty then, let's see the goods."

"We want the girl first, after all, we are doing you this favour," Jayne chipped in with a smirk.

"Take her," he said, shoving the woman towards the two of them.

"_Qing wa cao de liu mang_," she spat as soon as she found her footing again.

"Filthy mouth, glad to get rid of her," the man trading her off smirked. "So, what does your crew of men plan on doing with the dirty Rebel?"

"What else d'ya think!?" Jayne exclaimed gruffly.

"Oh right," he let out a dirty laugh. "Now, do I get my goods?"

"Sure, sure, here," Mal said a little hurried as he almost dropped the goods to the man's arms.

Without another moment passing Mal walked back onto Serenity as Jayne grabbed the girl by the arm and she began to complain about it hurting. They closed the dock.

"Wash, we ready to leave?" Mal called over the intercom.

"Kaylee says another minute."

"You might wanna make that a quick minute."

Mal peered through the small window to see the guy slowly looking at his goods. This was not a good thing right now. The Alliance stamp on the protein bars were pretty huge and stamped across the back of all six. He looked back to the girl who was currently being eyed up by Jayne. He rolled his eyes and looked back to male who was starting to grow angry by the look on his face. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible. The guy was now running towards the ship, ready to pound on the door, sure he couldn't get in, but it was still pretty unnerving. He stepped back carefully.

"Wash!" he shouted impatiently.


	2. Welcome aboard

_I was ever so rude last chapter, didn't even write an introduction! Howdy folks and this here is my mighty fine Firefly fic. I don't own anything here but the original character. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy! (P.S. if you like it, lemme know, and please, tell me if it needs to be better, I'll up my game)_

* * *

Then they were in the air. Jayne continued to eye up the new female passenger, not sure whether he wanted to question her, jump her or simply discard her as a mole straight away. Some times people just getting on board was a little odd, but then if this story was true, he guessed that it made sense. The girl turned to face Jayne through squinted eyes and eyed him up as much as he was doing to her.

"So, can y'all unbind me now?" she asked politely, looking to Mal.

"First up, what's your name little miss?"

"I'm Sienna Callahan, used to be a lieutenant in the 32nd and 65th brigade of the Independents. My daddy was Henry Callahan, Sergeant Major in the 32nd brigade of the Independents. My momma was a whore. I'm a loyal Browncoat and I've been told I'm pretty handy with a needle and even better with a stove," she said with a little nod.

"You're father was Henry Callahan?"

"You're mother was a whore?"

"Gorram it Jayne, get your head outta the gutter," he glared at him. He walked behind Sienna and cut her binds. "I never knew he had a baby girl…" he trailed off, going back to his original train of thought.

"No one did, we tried to keep it under wraps. People started finding out who I was, things could have gotten… in'erestin'," she said with a little shrug then rubbed her wrists.

"Wait, so that makes you the only 32nd soldier to survive the war?"

"Yup, thankfully I'm not the last 65th left though," she said with a little hearty chuckle. "And may I enquire as to who you are cap'n?"

"Malcolm Reynolds-"

"_The_ Mal Reynolds?" Sienna quickly interjected. "It'll be an honour to fly with you, sir."

"No, the honour is all mine," a genuine smile crossed his lips. "Right, well, I have to go captain this ship, I'll leave you in the semi-capable hands of Jayne Cobb to get you seen to and then where you'll be sleepin'. Then we can get to know you a little better in the mess room."

"Thank you," she said brightly. "And I owe you real big for savin' my life out there," she nodded her head.

"If you patch and cook, that's all the owin' you'll do," he smiled and then went off to the bridge.

Jayne looked to the new girl, smiling at her as he let his eyes wonder over her one more time. She had tight fighting beige trousers which really left nothing to the imagination. She had a red blouse which was cut to follow he every curve and was neatly tucked into her trousers. Her brown coat hung loosely over her entire frame. He couldn't help but lick his lips as he watched her for another moment.

"So, you're mother was a whore then?"

"Yes my momma was a whore, but I hardly know her, hell, for all I know, she could be dead. Ever since I were three it was just my daddy and me."

"That's a shame, a girl not knowin' her momma."

"Daddy said it was for the best," she shrugged. "You gonna keep yammerin', or you gonna show me to the infirmary?"

"Right, yeah, this way."

Jayne walked down one of the corridors and arrived outside the infirmary. Sienna followed behind him, letting her eyes wonder around the corridor. It really was a fine ship in her eyes and to be allowed on it, especially with Mal Reynolds captaining her, was a massive honour. If her father could see that she was flying with him, she knew he would be all puffy and proud.

Jayne wasn't exactly a big fan of Simon and River, the two people who you could almost always see hanging out in the infirmary, but the girl had to go there. Simon, well he was just wet behind the ears and generally now someone that Jayne would want to be seen with. And River… well, she had a tendency to freak Jayne out, not just because she decided to take a knife to his chest, but also because of her incessant talking in riddles and never making any sense. If he was gonna listen to someone, he at least wanted to be able to understand something they said. He opened the door and let Sienna in first.

"Doc, got a patient for you," he almost grunted.

"Well, howdy doc, I'm Sienna, the newest addition to the crew it would seem," she beamed.

"I'm Simon Tam, on board doctor. Take a seat," he smiled warmly. "So what happened?"

"Took a bit of a beatin' from some Alliance folk. Brown ain't exactly a colour they like," she chuckled.

"Yes, well, maybe you should wear another colour to avoid getting your nose broken," he smiled politely.

"It's only a broke nose, that's fixable. Not wearin' my brown coat is like admitin' defeat and my pride would never allow that."

"You sound just like the captain."

"Good. He is a man more people-" she stopped to breathe in deeply as he pushed her nose back into place. "A little warnin' would have been nice, doc."

"I find warning gives the patient a chance to flinch and make it worse."

"I s'pose you got a point."

"Right, so I'll clean you up and see if you need any stitches," he gave her a warm smile.

Sienna nodded and proceeded to let him do his job. He was sure she was nice and trustworthy as Mal had let her on the ship, then again he'd let him on the ship along with an Alliance agent, so maybe his character judgement wasn't all too good. He also didn't know how much she knew about the ship status, for example, did she know about his psychic sister? Or that they had a companion on board? Or a Shepherd? He carefully applied a damp cloth to her nose and then quickly applied a small sticky bandage with precision.

Suddenly, River peered her head around the door, her long brown hair falling off of her shoulders and pointing to the floor as her head was tilted. Jayne jumped slightly at the sudden appearance and glared at her with intense hatred. She smiled to Sienna, then Simon, then Jayne. Sienna looked to River with a little curiosity, not sure what was really happening, if this was a game or whether this girl was just generally this strange. She didn't speak a word but instead just continued to grin. Sienna thought in a situation like this she would feel awkward, but instead she just smiled back at River, a sense of calm washing over her.

"Sienna, pretty name," River said, standing up straight.

"B-but I never told you…"

"She probably just over heard you say it," he smiled nervously.

"Yeah… who is she?" she looked to River.

"My little sister, River," he defended quickly.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said politely.

"Brown suits you, becomes you, is you," River said, observing her and moving a little closer.

"Thank you?" she said a little more than confused.

"But sometimes its red, mixed up, covered," River's voice began to tremble. "Red dripping," she gasped and turned on her heel and ran off.

"River!" Simon turned to run after her, "I'm sorry…"

"She's your sister, go," Sienna gave him a warm smile.

And with that, Simon left the infirmary to chase down his sister. Sienna really had no idea what was going. She had no idea what a Browncoat, a mercenary, a fancy waistcoat wearing doctor and his unstable sister were doing on a firefly together either but she guessed it would make sense sooner or later. She looked over to Jayne who was still sulking in the background with his arms folded across his chest. He looked to the girl with a small sigh.

"I s'pose I gotta do the doc's job and clean you up then?"

"If you don't mind. If you do, I'll do it myself."

"Nah, it's fine," he grunted.

After opening a few different drawers, he finally found something which looked like he could use it to clean up a few wounds. He started to wipe the blood off of her face, the dried blood was coming off quite easily which was surprising. Under the blood, she had quite pale skin and under her eyes she had clusters of tiny little freckles. She winced every so often as he touched sore spots, but she always seemed to try her hardest to not show any pain. Jayne suppressed the urge he had to chuckle slightly, not because she was in pain but because she was determined to stay strong, it was kind of cute.

"All cleaned up."

"Why thank you kindly," she nodded politely.

"S'pose I better show you to your room."

"S'pose…"


End file.
